A reform plan introduced by Gov. Pat McCrory will inject market-based solutions into the state’s Medicaid program. John Locke Foundation president John Hood assesses the plan and discusses why North Carolina’s program for paying for, and delivering, medical care to the poor and low-income families is weighed down under such problems. Next is a look at local tax and fee burdens around the state. Charlotte’s 11-year run as the large North Carolina city with the largest local tax-and-fee burden in the state has ended. That’s just one of the key facts you can find in the latest edition of the John Locke Foundation’s By The Numbers report, which ranks cities and counties based on their tax burden. Report author Michael Lowrey, JLF economics and regulatory policy analyst, discusses key findings in the report. Then we turn to tax reform. North Carolina’s tax reform efforts recently got a $500,000 boost from Americans for Prosperity. Tim Phillips, president of the Washington, D.C.-based grass-roots advocacy group, recently explained why AFP is putting so much money into efforts to improve this state’s tax system. That’s followed by a look at the roots of the modern American conservative movement. We can trace at least some of its ideas to a meeting that took place at a mountain resort in Switzerland more than 65 years ago. Johns Hopkins University historian Angus Burgin recently spoke at Duke University on the Swiss meeting that led to the formation of the influential Mont Pelerin Society. And finally, if you’re wondering why your electric bill is so high, at least one contributing factor is the state’s mandate that utilities buy a percentage of their energy from high-cost “green” sources rather than lower-cost sources. John Locke Foundation Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray explains the push to pare back the mandate and lower electric bills.